i jumped aboard a sailorman's ship
by moeten
Summary: No matter how you look at it, Denmark's a pretty scary guy.


There are too many people at the harbour. Big, loud, noisy people. They talk and shout like Denmark; it is his harbour. Ice doesn't like it, and clings to Nore's doublet. He doesn't want to be here. He wants to go home. Not back to Denmark's manor, but his _real_ home, across the sea. But that isn't allowed. Denmark is returning from a trip today, and Nore says they have to meet him at the ship. Ice thought it must be orders, but he can't puzzle out how, if Denmark is on a ship, he gave them. He grips the doublet tighter, and Nore pulls his fingers loose.

The harbour is ten, a hundred, a thousand times bigger than Ice's. Some of the ships are amazing, huge masted monsters that could defeat a kraken. There are whalers, trade ships, naval ones, even little fishing boats. People are unloading and loading everywhere, paying no attention to the two countries in their midst. That's good. Sailors are superstitious. Back home Ice could usually never visit the harbour without being called to bless luck on every vessel whose captain knew him. Gradually, Ice becomes aware that the sailors are not all Danish — he can hear Norwegian, English, the sound if not words of French, and some languages he doesn't know the name of. He suddenly hears a snatch of _his_ language, and whirls around in the direction it came from — _Yes, we'll be setting off tomorrow if we_ — but suddenly Nore's hand is at his wrist. He tugs, but Nore isn't paying attention, pointing. "Look — there's the _Trost_."

Denmark's ship. Huge and heavy and fast, the pride of the Danish navy — _the comfort_, it's called, or sometimes _the dog_, as it was named for one. He's not excited to see Denmark. Denmark frightens him. He's so tall and loud and shows all his teeth when he smiles, and commands a ship with seventeen guns when he sails. He did _something_, Ice isn't sure what, to make Sweden and Finland hate him. It must have been evil; Denmark is evil. Most importantly, he won't let Iceland trade with anyone else, and made him live in his house. _So we'll become friends_, he'd said, putting his hand on Ice's head, but then he'd gone away to the palace and Ice hadn't seen him after. Denmark doesn't want to be friends. Denmark is an evil person. Iceland closes his fists and is going to say this to Nore; _who cares about some dumb ship_, but Nore is looking at it with the distant face he uses when he sees mountains and other things he really loves. Iceland suddenly remembers that it's the Dano-_Norwegian_ navy. Nore is a traitor.

Even though Ice is a country, he's also pretty small, so people don't tell him everything. He doesn't know what Denmark did to make Sweden hate him, but because Denmark has always frightened him, it's easy to imagine. A few years ago, after Denmark said Norway was his province, Ice told Nore he should hate him too; take off and leave, follow Sweden far away. Nore looked at him, his chin in his palm, his fingers over his mouth. His expression was distant, neither happy or sad. _It ain't as simple as all that_, he'd said. _Sve's got his bad points too._

Iceland doesn't understand, he thinks now. He knows his older brother isn't scared of _anything_, but… He stops trying to pull away. There's nowhere to run to. They watch the ship, watch people begin to disembark, the harbour's swarm enveloping it and making the ship seem smaller. He wonders if they're going to meet Denmark on the ship, but Nore stays where they are. Finally, Ice sees Denmark. He's easy to spot, always dressed in bright, expensive colours. Always waving his arms and shouting and running. He runs right for them, dressed for a party and not for sailing, why would you even wear velvet on the ocean, and puts Nore's face between his hands. "Ya came out to greet me!" says Denmark, smiling like it hadn't been an order.

Nore suddenly hits him, but it's not a real hit, and Denmark isn't hurt. Having been let go of in the action, Iceland takes a couple of steps back. He'll get in trouble if he goes and runs away, but if he just doesn't get noticed, that'll be fine. "I came to meet the _ship_, you," Nore says as his fist grinds into Denmark's cheek. "Wanted to make sure ya didn't sink it with your recklessness, it's still gotta make it out west."

Ice takes another step back. Maybe he can find his people again. Maybe he can hide on one of their ships until he's home, and Denmark won't notice. Denmark's never noticed. He put Ice in his manor, with all his servants and fancy things, but Denmark stays at the palace and Ice is usually alone. It wouldn't be so bad if Nore was there, but Nore is in Christiania most months. Right now he's talking to Denmark. Denmark laughs, and Nore almost smiles, insulting him with relaxed eyes. No one would notice if Ice left. He turns to look for the Icelandic ship.

"Hey!" Suddenly, Denmark is squatting down in front of Ice, so they're of a height. Ice takes half a step backwards in shock. Denmark's mouth is wide, and Ice can see all his teeth. He shows his emotions too easily, too loudly. It's like the bang of a cannon. He's someone who puts seventeen guns on a ship and makes people hate him. Denmark's reaching into his doublet and pulls out a small package. It's wrapped in brown cloth instead of red velvet, and tied with a string. Denmark holds the string and lets the bundle dangle. "Hey, Ice! Didja miss me while I was away? Is that why ya and Nor came'ta meet me today? I gotcha a present!"

Is he supposed to take it? Does he want it? Ice doesn't know what to do. Is it a trick? Maybe something bad is inside. He puts his hands together in a cup, and Denmark drops the bundle into it. It's much heavier than the size would suggest, and a bit lumpy in his hands. Ice looks from the package to Nore, standing over Denmark's shoulder with his arms folded. His expression seems to be pleased. There's no seems in Denmark's expression; he looks as pleased as can be. Like he's the one who just received a present. _A present…_

It might still be a trick, Ice thinks. Maybe it's another trade agreement. He kneels on the wood of the dock and puts the package down, untying the string. It's half a dozen metal soldiers, with their uniforms painted Danish colours. Their eyes and hair are different colours, and their buttons are painted gold. One is an officer, and has a fancier hat, and gold trim on his coat. "Aren't they great?" Denmark asks, sounding as though he made them himself. Iceland tears his eyes away from his new toys to see that Denmark is sitting across from him now, cross-legged. He takes the soldiers and stands them up, evenly spaced apart, the officer reviewing the line. "I bought 'em at a shop in France's house! When I was little, Sve and I only had stick soldiers!" The look on his face — he's smiling, but it's different. Just as wide, but no teeth, and his eyes seem … sad? … as he looks at the soldiers. He used to play soldiers with Sweden, but now they're at war, because Sweden hates him, because Denmark is… evil, yes, but for the first time, Ice wonders if Denmark has anything he's sad about, too. Even if Nore is away a lot, Ice still has a brother, and…

For a frightening, bottomless second, he thinks he's about to ask Denmark to play soldiers with him. Then Nore squats down next to them and takes a soldier in hand, turning it over with a critical eye. "The craftsmanship is good, but ya were wastefully frivolous with our money," he announces with finality.

"Eh!" Denmark yells, leaning back dramatically, his weight balanced on one hand. He waves the officer at Nore. "Are ya sayin' I shouldn't've gotten Ice the best? I shoulda gotten him sticks?"

"I'm sayin' you shoulda bought him ones outta solid gold, but not with our joint economy!" Nore shouts back, grabbing Denmark by the collar to shake and choke at once. Nore is always so energetic around Denmark, Ice thinks, picking up one of the infantrymen. His eyes are painted blue, and his hair is yellow, and his musket shines in the sunlight. He doesn't want to say it out loud or anything, but it's a very nice present.

* * *

_**HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES:**_

_After the Kalmar Union fell apart in 1523, Norway decided to stick with Denmark, knowing otherwise he'd fall into Swedish control. Denmark decided this meant Norway was a Danish province (1536), which didn't exactly make Norway happy, but better than being a Swedish one I suppose? With Norway came Iceland, who Denmark declared a trade monopoly with in 1602. Another "very mixed results" sort of action on Denmark's part._

_The Trost in 1605 led the expedition to Greenland to discover what had happened to the Norse settlements there. The answer basically turned out to be "they died ages ago," but eventually led to Denmark getting sovereignty over Greenland properly instead of just saying he was without actually letting anyone on Greenland know. To be fair, Norway started it. (Greenland is still a Danish territory today.)_

_This story was originally written in October 2013, for Else._


End file.
